Pellet fuels used for heating systems such as pellet stoves and central heating furnaces have become increasingly popular over the last decade as the price of other conventional heating fuels such as oil and natural gas become prohibitively expensive. The surge in fossil fuel prices has resulted in an increasing demand for cheaper and efficient alternatives. This trend has resulted in the doubling in production of wood fuel pellets between 2006 and 2010. Experts suggest that the trend may continue, resulting in another doubling of wood pellet production in the upcoming years.
Currently, known methods for handling, dispensing and transporting wood pellets used in fuel systems such as pellet burning stoves, are performed by manually lifting and transporting large, heavy bags or containers of pellets and storing them in a dry place until they are needed. It may be difficult for the average fuel pellet user to manage, move and dispense these bags as they may be too heavy, or slip out of the user's arms. The difficulties associated with handling these bags or containers of pellets may be multiplied when the user is faced with climbing up and down stairs or uneven surfaces. Furthermore, the bulky bags or containers must be regularly lifted and carried to the pellet stove for dispensing. In some instances, the pellets must be manually carried and dispensed on a daily basis, or even multiple times per day. This lifting and dispensing process may be difficult and arduous for even the average wood pellet user, let alone users who may be smaller individuals, elderly or handicapped.
Wood pellets being dispensed into the feed hopper of known pellet stoves lack any type of filtering system that may separate fine particulate matter such as sawdust from the wood pellets. This lack of a filtering system may result in airborne sawdust and other particulates being dispersed into the air. The dispersal of sawdust or other particulates may reduce and affect the quality of the air inside the home or place of business. The lack of filtering may further present additional problems because the majority of the sawdust may remain mixed with the wood pellets and is dispensed into the feed hopper of the pellet stove. The sawdust and other fine particulate matter, when burned inside the stove, may quickly turn to ash in the stove and reduce the stoves efficiency as well as increase the need or frequency for maintenance and cleaning thereof.
Previously published apparatuses such as the one described in US Patent Publication 2007/031113 A1 include flawed mechanisms that will not effectively or efficiently transfer wood pellets from one container or source to another. The apparatus described in the 113' publication relies on paddle wheel mechanism rotating via a motor to feed and transfer the pellets through the apparatus and into the output of the system. As it is well known, paddlewheels are used for liquids and other fluid matter, not solid materials. The apparatus described in the '113 publication will not work effectively and will be prone to the solid pellets jamming and lodging themselves within the paddlewheel structure, preventing the transfer of pellets to the designated container. The apparatus of the '113 publication relies on the paddlewheel to transfer the pellets while simultaneously utilizing the paddle to maintain an air tight seal of the vacuum. However, as the paddlewheel mechanism becomes stuck or jammed, it will no longer be able to provide the necessary motion to continuously feed the pellets through the system described in the '113 publication, nor will the vacuum pressure be properly maintained which results as the seal formed by the paddle will be disengaged, thus preventing the introduction of any additional pellets into the apparatus. Moreover, if the paddlewheel becomes jammed or unable to continuously operate properly, the motor may continue to run and ultimately burn out or become a dangerous hazard.
Thus, a need exists for a wood pellet handling, filtering, transferring and dispensing apparatus and methods for automatically filtering, handling and transporting wood pellet fuel from a source of pellets or a storage area to the pellet stove that is practical, reliable, efficient, and will provide pellets to a designated location without undesired interruptions to the feed of the wood pellets that could result in dangerous operating conditions.